Manhunt Continues for Navy Sailor in Afghanistan

U.S. and Afghan troops are combing
eastern Afghanistan for a missing Navy sailor reportedly captured by
the Taliban. The sailor and a fellow serviceman appear to have ventured
into Logar province, south of Kabul, and engaged in a shootout with the
Taliban that left one of them dead. The military is offering a $20,000
reward for information leading to the sailor's whereabouts. According to
CNN, the body of the killed sailor has been recovered by Afghan
officials. It's not yet known why the two sailors ventured into the
Taliban stronghold alone. Here's what reporters and analysts are
pulling together:

The Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said in a telephone interview
that the two Americans had entered an area known as Dasht-i-Qala when
the Taliban spotted them and tried to capture them alive. The area is in
Charkh District, at the southern end of Logar Province, about 60 miles
south of Kabul.

“They resisted, and one of them started
shooting,” Mr. Mujahid said. “One soldier was trying to resist and the
other one was willing to surrender.” Shots were exchanged for a while
before one was killed and the other was captured, he said.

“They carried weapons, binoculars, and they were uniformed,” he said, and they were alone.

Now, Mr. Mujahid said, “the Taliban are waiting for the leadership to
decide what to do” with the surviving serviceman and the body of his
partner; he said both were in a safe location.

A Powerful Morale Booster for Taliban, write Maria Abi-Habib and Matthew Rosenberg at The Wall Street Journal: "The
sailors' disappearance in an area only a few hours' drive from Kabul
served as a stark reminder of just how powerful the Taliban remain in
many parts of Afghanistan, despite the massive influx of U.S. troops in
recent months. While the capture would have little battlefield impact,
it would offer the Taliban a powerful propaganda tool with which to
rally its faithful and reinforce its claim to be wearing down North
Atlantic Treaty Organization forces fighting here."

Reveals Fissures in Taliban Power Structure, writes Laura King at the Los Angeles Times:

Illustrating the sometimes splintered nature of the insurgency, there
appeared to be initial confusion within the Taliban about which of its
factions was involved in the confrontation. Although there is an overall
Taliban command structure, local cells of insurgents — sometimes
intermingled with criminal gangs — operate semiautonomously in some
parts of the country.

First word of the insurgents' encounter with
the Americans did not come directly from the Taliban's usual spokesmen,
but was relayed by Afghan authorities, who cited local intermediaries.

The American government has long had a policy of refusing to pay a
ransom for a kidnapped employee. Nor was it clear that the Taliban were
asking for one. The only reports so far were that they were interested
in a prisoner swap.

But the military has offered rewards in
several previous cases, usually immediately after service members
disappear, before their kidnappers have a chance to spirit them to a
more distant and secure location.

The distinction between a
ransom and a reward appeared to be somewhat gray, although in
Afghanistan, where people can earn tens of thousands of dollars in the
poppy business or in transporting heroin, it seemed unlikely that
$20,000 would be of much interest to the kidnappers; the reward seemed
to be aimed more at bystanders who might have seen or heard something
that could inform the military’s search.